Wildville | December 2017

SAITHEPollachius virens

There’s something fishy in Norway, and its name is saithe. Actually, some call it the fish lover’s fish. You can find saithe, a type of fish located in the waters off the coast of Norway, year-round. There are northern and southern saithe, which are simply divided by the 62nd degree of latitude.
These social fish travel in schools and live in shoals of fish. Wait, what’s the difference between a school of fish and a shoal of fish? Well, if saithe, for example, are stationary, they are existing in a shoal, much like a pack of wolves. However, once they get moving in a large group, that’s called a school.
Think of it like a school bus. Schools of fish have to do with motion and travel.
Now, where do these shoals of saithe like to swim? They are bottom-dwelling fish, which means they like to swim between zero and 300 meters, or almost 1,000 feet, deep. Unless you’re a scuba diver, this means that don’t get to swim with saithe.Norway has so many saithe swimming along its shores that the fish have become an important source of income. And thanks to the numerous ways to cook saithe (fried, poached, grilled, etc.), white fish lovers keep coming back for more.
Activity: Now that we’ve learned a bit about this fish, how big do you think they grow to be? If someone asked you to show them by holding up your hands how big these fish are, you’d probably show them a fish anywhere from six to 18 inches long, but these saithe can weigh up to 44 pounds! How big do you think that is?